Saturday, June 30, 2007

A federal judge overseeing a lawsuit filed by six Muslim men who were removed from a US Airways flight last fall has declined to limit public access to the case.

Omar T. Mohammedi, a New York attorney for the six Muslim scholars, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he sought limited media access because he felt some of the coverage of the case has been biased against his clients.

"When you think of the media, and the way they have been portraying this case, it has not been very helpful. It has been biased," Mohammedi said. "That has caused a lot of stress, a lot of stress on our clients, as well as made it difficult for us to handle this case ... in a manner that it should be handled."

In a letter dated Tuesday and addressed to Mohammedi, U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery noted that Mohammedi had requested that the court remove members of the media from an electronic distribution list, bar members of the media from attending hearings, and hold proceedings in closed session.

"The Court declines to treat this case in the extraordinary manner that you request," the judge wrote. She added that the public and press have an interest in full access to judicial proceedings under the First Amendment. You have provided no legal authority supporting your request to limit public access to this case," Montgomery wrote. "While it is regrettable that anonymous individuals have threatened violence, the Court Security Officers will insure that the United States Courthouse here in Minneapolis is secure."

The judge's letter was entered in the case file, and it noted that further communications on the matter should also be filed through the court's electronic database.

The letters previously submitted on the issue were filed off the record and were not made public. Judge Montgomery said through a law clerk that she would have no comment beyond her letter.

Tehran, Iran, Jun. 30 – Iran said on Friday that it would execute at least 10 “trouble-makers” in the coming days to combat “insecurity” in society.“Within the next several days, God’s verdict will be applied in the cases of more than 10 trouble-makers”, said Seyyed Ibrahim Re’isi, Iran’s deputy judiciary chief. He said that the sentences of these individuals had already been upheld by the State Supreme Court.“In order to root out insecurity once and for all, there must be an unrelenting campaign to combat this problem”, he said at Friday prayers in Tehran. His remarks were reported by the official news agency IRNA.

We have listened ad nauseum to San Fran Nan talk about draining the Congressional swamp. Now we learn that La Pelosi has holdings in Alcatel-Lucent.Dump that stock Nan, or we'll have to start calling you Sudan Nan....According to Divestterror.org, a citizens group pushing a South Africa-style disinvestment program to discourage companies from doing business in terror countries, Alcatel-Lucent’s investments in terror countries are so extensive that it is included on the organization’s “dirty dozen” list of offending companies. The organization estimates that the company has invested upwards of $300 million in terror sponsoring nations during the past five years.According to Divestterror.org, Alcatel is aiding Iran’s terrorist activities by providing state controlled companies with data transmission and switching network capabilities. “These contracts have reportedly included the provision of hardware, software, technologies, and training to Iranian companies.” It is also installing an undersea telecommunications cable in Iran.Prior to his overthrow, Alcatel carried out major fiber optic products for dictator Saddam Hussein in Iraq, despite U.S. government warnings to the French company that the project could advance Iraqi military capabilities.

Alcatel is currently “involved in similar telecommunications projects ranging from upgrading networks to the installation underwater fiber optic cables” in Sudan and Libya.

Criticizing Alcatel, former House Armed Services Committee Chairman and current GOP presidential contender Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) expressed his worry over Alcatel’s activities in a letter to President Bush. In it, he wrote, “I am concerned about potential transfers of technology or sensitive information to other countries with which Alcatel has business dealings, which have included Burma, China, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.”

Big bad Mookie al Sadr has evidentlydecided not to march to Samarra.Why not?BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT WOULDN'T SECURE THE ROUTE.Bwa-ha-ha-ha. Hey Mook. Why don't you go hide in a cave someplace? That's what all you big brave Mohammedan warriors usually do....

'This decision has been approved by the parliament and therefore the government is determined to implement it,' the minister told Mehr news agency.

In the Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati called on the people to remain calm.

Since rationing took effect on Wednesday, the capital Tehran faced a visible decrease of traffic jams and also the air was much cleaner in the last 48 hours, realising at least two of the main aims of the rationing plan. (this smells like taquiyah to me-yah)

Oscar-winner Oliver Stone has sent a letter to the Iranian president’s office requesting permission to make a docudrama on President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, stated an Iranian producer who is regularly consulted by the president’s art and cultural advisors. The request was made three months ago by Stone, the famous U.S. filmmaker, who has directed numerous films with socio-political themes over the past few years,” Alireza Sajjadpur told the Persian service of the Iranian Students’ News Agency on Friday. I think it is a good proposal and I would like the request to be accepted,” he added.

Oliver Stone is among the film directors who have been against the warmongering policy of the U.S. He has made a film about Fidel Castro which has generally been well received and I found it interesting.” As far as I know, it takes time to receive a response to such a request and the president’s office is considering it.”

A magistrate refused to deal with a defendant wearing a veil it has been revealed.

At Manchester Magistrates Court Ian Murray walked out of the case because Zoobia Hussain, 32, of Crumpsall, was covered. Ms Hussain's lawyer, Judith Hawkins, said in a statement "She Hussain remains shocked and distressed.

"She feels that the court's treatment of her was insensitive, unacceptable and against the traditions of fairness and equality that we have come to expect from our system of justice."She is angry that, as a result of the ensuing publicity, she has now had to explain to her children what happened."

Hussain, was charged with criminal damage, covered her entire face apart from her eyes when she faced the magistrates. However, Mr Murray felt the veil raised identity issues and left the hearing without explaining why.

Mr. Murray attempts to cover his a&& with veiled apology.

The Judiciary of England and Wales said: "Mr Murray is concerned about questions of identity when the full veil is worn in court.

"However, he agrees that he acted unwisely in disqualifying himself without giving reasons, and acknowledges that he should have sought the advice of his legal advisor in court, and discussed the provisions of the national guidelines with his colleagues on the bench, before taking action.

"Mr Murray is supportive of those of different faiths and cultural traditions and acknowledges and regrets his action could be misinterpreted."

Hussain's case was dealt with immediately after Mr Murray withdrew and was adjourned until July 18.

I'd say see you in court Zoobia, but with you wearing that rig I don't think I will...

(from wICKipedia): The area came to unwanted national prominence in 2004 when Detective Constable Stephen Oake, a Greater Manchester Police officer was fatally stabbed whilst arresting a suspected terrorist in a house on Crumpsall Lane. DC Oake therefore became the first British national to be killed by terrorists in the "War on Terror" on UK soil, a tragic distinction.

Heaton Park on the borders of Crumpsall has been used as the location for the "Red Rec'" on Granada's Coronation Street. Additionally, the UK TV drama 'Queer as Folk' was partially filmed in the terraced streets off Cravenwood Road.

There was a well-publicised case of a girl who was tragically burnt to death by her teenage boyfriend, who was living in a hostel. A gangland stabbing in Crumpsall Park and the burning down of part of the Abraham Moss Centre were enough to send out very negative signals.

According toQari Mohammed Hanif Jalandhry, a member of the central council of Ittehad Tanzeemat Madaris Deenia and a group of Muslim clerics has travelled to Washington DC this week to brief US lawmakers, officials, academics and other members of the American society on the state of religious schools in Pakistan.

The Red Mosque has evidently been a hot topic - although I've yet to find anything in the US press about the delegation or the individuals they have been "briefing."Why am I thinking of the Muslim delegation that went round the world inciting the Mo-toon riots when I read about this delegation???

"While we sympathise with several of their demands, we strongly disagree with their method of achieving those objectives. Islam does not condone coercive measures...""Other issues that US lawmakers showed keen interest in included the concept of jihad in Islam, particularly the difference between jihad and terrorism, suicide attacks, and the Taliban movement in Afghanistan."(editor's note: they don't freaking know this already????)“It is wrong to blame a nation or a religion for the crimes committed by a few individuals,”

It isn't wrong to blame or nation or a religion for the crimes committed by a few individuals if their nation or religion does nothing to STOP IT!!!!

Four Iraq related amendments are to be introduced, two different withdrawal proposals, another deauthorization of the Iraq War proposal and proposals to prohibit the creation of permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq, and a "readiness" initiative limiting deployments of U.S. soldiers and marines in Iraq by requiring the Pentagon to keep military units from being sent back to Iraq until they have been stateside as long as they were in the combat zone. John Murtha has a few tricks up his appropriations sleeve as well.

The stench of surrender is thick in the Demo caucus:

"The surge is a failure, it isn't working," said a Democratic aide familiar with the new initiative. "We just can't leave American soldiers out there dying and not do anything."

A simple launch of a not so simple project”. This was how Ms. Amina Rasul described the forum that transpired last June 8 at the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Islamic Studies. The “Empowering the Ulama and Muftis of the Philippines” project, jointly supported by the British Embassy through their Engaging the Islamic World Programme and the Royal Netherlands Embassy, will be managed by the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID)-Magbassa Kita Foundation, Inc.

It must have gotten pretty deep in the meeting:

For his part, His Excellency Mr. Peter Beckingham, the British Ambassador to the Philippines related that the increasing number of Muslims in the United Kingdom makes them the largest ethnic minority in Britain. The contribution of Muslims in Britain have been great as many are members of the House of Commons, have businesses and are involved in media, sports and entertainment. As example, Mohammed Al Fayed, whose son Dodie had been linked with Princess Diana, owns the famous Harrods of London.

(Gee, he forgot to mention the London bombers.)

And there's this from the Poor little Dutch Boy:

The Ambassador of Netherlands to the Philippines, His Excellency Mr. Robert Vornis recounted the successful partnerships between his country and PCID in the past especially in terms of human rights and gathering the ulama in 2005. It was in that workshop where the idea of a united ulama summit was first put forward. Ambassador Vornis expressed his thanks and appreciation for being part of this important project and hoped that the project would be successful. He said that although the problems in Mindanao are alarming, he remains optimistic that with the empowered ulama, peace and development will once again have the chance to reign in the region.

About the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID)-Magbassa Kita Foundation, Inc?It looks like they are part of thesearching for root causes crowd. They blame the "intrusive West."

Iranian police were on patrol in Tehran on Thursday on alert for any further violent protests over the introduction of petrol rationing in the world's fourth largest oil producer.

A dozen petrol stations were set ablaze in violence that erupted late Tuesday and angry motorists queued for hours throughout Wednesday to fill up their tanks after the government's sudden announcement. But on Thursday, state-run television said the streets were calm and no further trouble had been reported near petrol stations despite long lines of cars still waiting at the pumps.

"The situation in the city is calm and the police are patrolling the city's main roads and squares," Tehran metropolitan police spokesman Mahdi Ahmadi was quoted as saying by Iran's energy news agency Shana. "Thank God there was not any report of any kind of unlawful act in Tehran last (Wednesday) night."More...

This is a sign that proudly hangs at the entrances of supermarkets and shopping malls across Riyadh, and is directed at all men above the age of 16. It is an annoying sign for many, especially since in some parts of the Kingdom this rule is not adhered to.

Many youngsters are fed up and are calling on security guards and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice to give them a break. One high school student told Arab News: “This is something we see wherever we go. Is this rule only applied to Riyadh? In Jeddah and the whole of the Eastern Province the situation is quite different.”

Speaking about the situation in Jeddah, he said: “Youngsters in Jeddah are free to go anywhere. Why is that? Are we all bad in Riyadh? Why is it that all Saudi young men in Riyadh are punished because of the wrongdoings of a few?”

The youngster, who did not want to be named, said the situation was unfair. “We feel wronged because women are the source of problems and can go anywhere they want wearing fashionable clothes under their abayas. They wear provocative clothes and the only people who are punished are the ones who bother them. Young women are to blame,” he said.

for reminding me aboutthis.How quickly we forget trash talking women of low breeding and no taste.

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, has called on Americans to stop conservative Ann Coulter’s “hate words.” But when that campaign hired two hateful, anti-Christian bigots as “official” bloggers, Mrs. Edwards did not object and the campaign decided to give them a “fair shake,” as John Edwards said. The bloggers resigned in February only after their bigoted writings were exposed by other bloggers and conservative talk radio, causing a huge embarrassment. ABC, CBS, and NBC interviewed Elizabeth Edwards this morning to allow her to further complain about Coulter’s “hate words,” but none mentioned the Edwards campaign’s bigoted bloggers.

Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan. (Remember these two?)

From Ms. Marcotte:Sen. Rick Santorum talks about sex “lest his lack of self-control be manifested by f***ing his desk on the Senate floor.”

From Ms. McEwan:“When CNN invited Ann Coulter to comment on the 2004 presidential debates, I sniffed, ‘I didn’t realize they had officially transformed into the C*** News Network.”

"I wouldn't be nice to him anyway," Edwards said in an interview. "I don't want my kids anywhere near some guy who when he doesn't like somebody, the first thing he does is pull a gun out. It scares the business out of me. Edwards views Johnson as a "rabid, rabid Republican" who refuses to clean up his "slummy" property just to spite her family, whose lavish 28,000-square-foot estate is nearby on 102 wooded acres.Bonus : The best little tidbit I've heard about this whole exchange? During the course of the call, do you remember hearing a deep male voice booming out the $69,000 question: "Why isn't your husband making this call????"

Well, that was none other than FReeper Extraorinaire, Kristinn.

Way to go Kristinn. Your well timed salvo was clearly the turning point - where it really started to go bad for the Edwards'. Such a pity.

I predict this political stunt will go down in the annals of campaign history screw ups. Even better it looks like the Edwards campaign has a trifecta going. We've just witnessed Elizabeth's hypocritical jawboning for John, and before that there was the ill-considered protest-the-war-and-diss-the-troops-on-the-day-we-set aside-to honor-their memories strategy. And who can forget the old War-on-Terror-Bumper-Sticker maneuver? My new slogan for the Edwards campaign.

Vote for John and Elizabeth. Just Because.

(We really do know better than you.)

The truly sad thing? One of Ann Coulter's past beefs with John Edwards is his exploitative use of his dead son's memory in furthering his political career. Me, I'm watching the way this is going down and I have this creepy feeling that I am watching Candidate Edwards exploiting Elizabeth and her situation as well. How can you possible debate poor, brave Cancer Victim Elizabeth without looking like Cruella Deville? Especially when you're that evil,"crazy"Ann Coulter. You wait - they'll be questioning her virtue next. Or who knows? They just might decide to go the "unnatural woman, frigid routine". You can bet that somewhere at Edwards HQ there's an aide sitting in his cube and lamenting the fact that Ann didn't grow up in a trailer park. (Here's what I mean when I say the Edwards are working it:)They have made the incidentthe centerpiece of their fund raising efforts,the campaign has produced aheavily edited You tube vid of Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's beenmaking the rounds of themorning "news" shows)

Despite low approval ratings and hard feelings from last year's elections, Democrats and Republicans in the House are reaching out for an approximately $4,400 pay raise that would increase their salaries to almost $170,000.The cost-of-living raise endorsed Wednesday evening gets lawmakers back on track for automatic pay raises after a fight between the parties last year and again in January killed the pay increase due this year. That was the first interruption of the annual congressional pay boost in seven years.The blowup came after Democrats last year fulfilled a campaign promise to deny themselves more pay until Congress raised the minimum wage. Delays in the minimum wage bill cost every lawmaker about $3,100 this year.

On a 244-181 vote Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans alike killed a bid by Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Lee Terry, R-Neb., to get a direct vote to block the COLA, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote to block it. The Senate has not indicated when it will deal with a similar measure.

As part of an ethics bill in 1989, Congress gave up its ability to accept pay for speeches and made annual cost-of-living pay increases automatic unless the lawmakers voted otherwise.

The annual vote on the pay hike comes on an obscure procedural move - instead of a direct up-or-down vote - and Democratic and GOP leaders each delivered a majority of their members to shut off the move to block the pay hike.

This year's vote was made ticklish by last year's battle. Republicans said Democrats broke a promise not to use the pay raise issue against GOP lawmakers in campaign ads and therefore were, generally speaking, more reluctant to supply votes.

Fairness doctrine in action... Hoyer and Blunt put the arm on House members. Working through Blunt, Hoyer forced twelve (!)Republicans to switch their vote.

The COLA raise is estimated to come in at 2.7% or $4460. The only good news - Dick Cheney gets a raise, too. House leaders and the Supremes will get more $, too.

From left: Fran Townsend, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, NSC Senior Director for European Affairs Judy Ansley, White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, attend the rededication ceremony of the Islamic Center of Washington.

Police Chief Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqaddam complained on Wednesday gasoline rationing was implemented suddenly and without prior notice. Speaking on the sidelines of the Sixth International Police Safety and Security Equipment Exhibition (IPAS 2007), Ahmadi-Moqaddam noted that miscreants who attacked gas stations will be confronted, IRNA reported.“The government was supposed to inform people at least 24 hours before enforcing the rationing scheme which, unfortunately, did not happen,“ he said. The police chief also told reporters that the police came to learn about gasoline rationing like other people through the media. “This is while we had a security plan ready before the implementation of gasoline rationing,“ he said. Ahmadi-Moqaddam pointed out that the police personnel were called in for implementing security measures after the scheme was scheduled.

This is a good one - the attacks on gas stations and banks(!) didn't have anything to do with the rationing scheme. Yeah. Right.

Commenting on incidents that erupted after gasoline rationing went into effect, including the torching of gas stations and attacks on banks, Ahmadi-Moqaddam said these incidents did not have anything to do with the rationing scheme. “Most of these incidents happened in Tehran and 17 gas stations were set on fire, several cars were torched and some banks and commercial units were damaged,“ he said.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The Abu Sayyaf, the smallest and most deadly Muslim militant group in the Philippines, has chosen a Syria-trained Islamic scholar as its new leader, a senior general said on Wednesday.Lieutenant-General Romeo Tolentino said the new militant leader, Yasser Igasan, was chosen three weeks ago after a straw poll by Abu Sayyaf field commanders at a rebel base on the southern island of Jolo.

"We believed that Igasan has taken over the leadership due to his religious background," Tolentino told reporters after meeting U.S. military officials at the army's main base in Manila."He's not new to the organization. He was among the original founders of Abu Sayyaf, together with the group's first leader, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani."

Igasan would replace Janjalan's younger brother, Khaddafy, killed in a clash with Marines in mountains on Jolo in September 2006. Khaddafy's death was confirmed only in January after DNA tests by U.S. authorities. He was the second leader of the group after his brother was killed in December 1998.

And I had to go over toEye on the Worldto find out about it. Sheesh. Thanks EOTW!

A Bucks County father was accused of going to extremes to break-up his daughter's romance.Police said the father and his son tried to kidnap her fiancé by beating him up and tossing him into a sport utility vehicle.Robert Webber, of Middletown Township police, said he thought he was being dispatched to a Bucks County diner Friday night for a fight but once he got there he was in the middle of a family disagreement turned violent."The victim advised me that his fiancée's family was trying to kill him, drag him into a car and take him somewhere, where he believed he was going to be killed," Webber said.Webber said the alleged victim told him his fiancée's family was upset the two had moved in together.He said there were cultural differences and that's why 48-year-old Mohd Nasher and his son 20-year-old Mohammed Nasher were allegedly gunning for the fiancé.

In an interview with the Egyptian national television, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has predicted that Hamas-Fatah disputes would be settled in four weeks, the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Alawsat said on Wednesday.In response to a question about the role of Iran and Syria in Gaza, he said, “There are many rumors but we have no solid evidence in this regard and I can not accuse anyone.”

However, the Egyptian foreign minister had earlier said that Iran’s moves had encouraged the Hamas to do what happened in Gaza, and this is a threat to Egypt’s national security as the distance between Gaza Strip and Egypt is very short.

A 6,000-strong army of young women wielding bamboo sticks and covered from head to toe in black is vowing to enforce the Islamist moral vision of their teacher, Abdul Rashid Ghazi. For now, they are content to kidnap prostitutes — releasing them hours later after stern lectures on Islamic morality — and attack music video stalls and other targets. But Mr. Ghazi, who runs a madrassa, or Muslim seminary, attached to Islamabad's Red Mosque, warns that his female students will send suicide bombers into the fray if authorities lay a hand on them.

And I couldn't be happier.The people of Halabja got really screwed - judicially speaking, that is. Their village suffered many casualties at the hands of Chemical Ali but for some reason they were left off the judicial complaint. So many genocides, so little court time, I guess. It is now poetic justice that Hajalba will be known throughout history as the place where Chemical Ali had hisgenocidal necktie party.God bless them.

Anonymous mentioned that he/she thought that it might be a good idea if Iran was reduced to the economic status of Zimbabwe in a previous comment. I thought it might be a good idea to give you an indication of what he was talking about.

Dear Family and Friends,I stood for over forty minutes in a line at the bank to withdraw my own money this week - its not unusual to have to queue for even longer than this. There was no electricity - again - so the ATM machines were not working - again. Even if the ATM's were working, those queues often need an hour and a half to get to the front. Because of the oppressive, iron-fist regulations from Harare, individuals are only allowed to withdraw one and a half million dollars at a time from the bank - even if they have just deposited a hundred times that amount the same day. The bank charges a 'handling fee' for the withdrawal of amounts of one and a half million dollars or less but you can cannot withdraw more without applying for permission from the Reserve Bank in Harare.

To put all these figures in perspective, let me explain! You have to stand in a queue in the bank for four days in a row - each day drawing out the maximum amount, each day paying the 'handling fee," in order to purchase one tank of fuel for your car .

Three days of maximum withdrawals will give you enough for one filling at the dentist. By the time you've got enough money together, the prices will have gone up again but for most of us all these things are just dreams anyway because now even a visit to the dentist has become an unaffordable luxury. Who would ever have imagined that a dental visit would be thought of as a luxury!

And this from her latest one - dated June 23, 2007.

...Government agricultural voices have begun warning that quelea birds are preparing to decimate the country's winter wheat crop - the crop that either wasn't planted in the first place or hasn't been watered because there's been no electricity for the irrigation pumps.

We are told that there is only one aeroplane in the country that can be used to spray the birds and apparently four are needed to "cover the whole crop". Its not being said if the whole crop consists of 8 thousand hectares spread out in lots of little squares or if its actually 76 thousand hectares.

Keeping up with both the facts and the propaganda about events in Zimbabwe has become almost impossible as electricity cuts silence all but the most determined and innovative lines of communication. It took a message from outside of Zimbabwe to tell me what our Minister of Lands said this week and for millions of cold, tired and hungry Zimbabweans, they are sickening words. Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa said: "The position is that food shortages or no food shortages, we are going ahead to remove the remaining whites. We would all rather die of hunger but knowing full well that the land is in the hands of black people."Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.

Wore it to keep adoring fans at bay but that don't matta! He offended the Muslim male's fragile sexual psyche! Just the thought of it! Needless to say he can't apologize and grovel fast enough...

A popular Bollywood male singer has apologised for wearing a burqa to pray in a famous Muslim shrine in India. Himesh Reshammiya said he was sorry if people were "offended" by his dressing as a woman to enter the Ajmer shrine.

The shrine's prayer attendants have defended the singer, saying he put the burqa on because he wanted to offer prayers without being mobbed by fans.

Last year the shrine was in the news because a Bollywood starlet - gasp! Wore a skirt!!!!

Reports of Iranian forces crossing the border into Iraq have gotten a bit of — though not enough — media attention this week. But this is nothing new for a regime with a nasty habit of meddling in the region.

Angry Iranian motorists queued for gasoline on Wednesday hours after the world's fourth largest oil exporter imposed fuel rationing, sparking chaotic scenes and the torching of two pump stations in the capital.

Drivers raced to fill up their tanks late on Tuesday after the Oil Ministry announced the delayed scheme would finally go ahead at midnight after months of confusion and conflicting statements, forming lines that stretched hundreds of meters.

The Iranian parliament has convened an emergency session attended by the interior and oil ministers to discuss the riots sparked late on Tuesday by the introduction of petrol rationing and price hikes aimed at ending Iran's dependence on imported petrol. A group of MPs has tabled an urgent motion proposing an immediate halt to the limit on private drivers of 3.3 litres of petrol per day, terming the measure unpopular and provocative. The government fears the United Nations may cripple the Iranian economy by introducing fresh sanctions sharply curbing exports of Iranian crude oil and fuel imports.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Hargeisa, the peaceful capital of the self-proclaimed state of Somaliland, has become a new centre for the Somali Diaspora wanting to perform female genital mutilation (FGM) on their daughters. Most live in countries where FGM is strictly forbidden, including when this is done abroad.

A team from the Norwegian public broadcaster 'NRK' last week visited Hargeisa, where it easily found practitioners of the outlawed practice of FGM (also referred to as "female circumcision" or "female cutting"), which is widely condemned as strongly harmful to women and girls, also by many Muslim religious leaders.

The Somalilander women performing FGM did so privately or in open cooperation with public health facilities in Hargeisa, where most worked as midwifes. Among Somalis, female genital mutilation is very widespread and the UN estimates that 98 percent of women in Somaliland and Somalia have been subjected to the harmful practice.

In most countries where the large Somali Diaspora is represented, however, FGM is strictly outlawed. Research nevertheless shows that a majority of Somali parents living abroad ignore the laws of their host country and continue exposing their daughters to this culturally based practice.

And as southern Somalia remains an unsafe destination, peaceful Somaliland has emerged a safe haven for Somalis wanting to visit friends and family. Or wanting to stick to traditions.

The 'NRK' team met with ten FGM practitioners in Hargeisa saying they had performed the cut on at least 185 Somali girls living in Norway. The practitioners further confirmed that Norway-based parents were popular clients as they paid "well", typically euro 20 each girl. European summer holidays were seen as the top season for these women performing FGM.

Based on these data, it is estimated that thousands of young girls are brought to Hargeisa each year from Europe alone to undergo the mutilation. Somali women rights organisations all over Europe and North America have for years tried to address this practice, knowing that each summer holiday, hundreds of young girls are taken to Hargeisa for just this reason.

In Norway, this revelation caused a public outcry and fuelled the debate about how to better enforce national legislation outlawing FGM. Politicians have proposed anything from information campaigns targeting Somalis in Norway, to obliging medics to report cases they come over to the police and introducing obligatory health tests for girls returning from summer holidays in Somalia.

While Somali parents living abroad can be taken to court for child abuse after having taken their daughters to Somaliland to undergo FGM, the Hargeisa practitioners operate in full legality. Attempts to outlaw FGM in Somaliland have so far failed.

As you know, ex-Iranian prez Khatami has beenbrought up on legal chargesfor shaking hands with a woman. He denies the claim, asserting that the tape had been edited to make it appear that he shook hands when really he didn't. Not to be outdone, the Iranian press claimed that he fell prey to a CIA plot. Well, the videographer is speaking out although no one has explained what a couple of grappa heiresses are doing attending a Khatami speech.

Video footage showing former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, a Muslim Shiite cleric, shaking hands with several women - a taboo gesture for Islamists - including two Italian grappa heiresses, has provoked controversy in Iran. But the man who filmed the scene, Marco Orioles, a university sociology lecturer from the northeastern Italian town Udine, has told Adnkronos International (AKI) he didn't want to provoke a commotion. Khatami's office has denied that the cleric during a trip last month to Italy intentionally shook hands with women - as shown in Orioles' footage broadcast on the 'YouTube' website.In a statement the cleric's office said that the footage had either been edited to give a false impression, or else Khatami had shaken the hands of people in a crowd without realising they were female."None of the 67,000 people who in the first few days viewed the 'incriminating' footage will have had any doubt as to its authenticity," Orioles told AKI. He was referring to the number of times the footage was viewed.

Regarding the CIA allegations:

"I think the CIA only discovered it had a modest sociology lecturer as an agent in Udine, the day after Kayhan published its editorial," Orioles said.

There's an interesting debate in the comment sections over at Gates of Vienna about the phraseology used at the end of the manifesto accompanying the Danish torching of the Mohammed effigy. (for some reason I am having trouble with the embed code so we'll have to make do with a still photo and the linky. I apologize for the technical difficulties.)

The discussion focuses on the use of the phrase "A MOHAMMEDAN FREE DENMARK."

Evidently, Mohammedan is a term that is associated with the far right wingers of Denmark and is comparable to the use of the N word.

From commenter Mikael:

And that last salute was the nail that just blew my tire. In Denmark, Muhammadan is used by the Extreme Right. Kinda like the N-word would be used by the KKK in the States.It's stupid, it's perceived as racist, and I'll have nothing of it!

The Baron replies:

I didn't know that about the word "Muhammedaner". In English the word "Mohammedans" has no special connotation, except for being somewhat archaic (although not as archaic as "Mussulmen").

Mikella amplifies:

The Danish term "muhammedaner" certainly is generally percieved as a derogatory term in the Danish public debate. In itself it has no intrinsic derogatory meaning (it just means a follower of Mohammed, as Christian or Jesuit means a follower of Christ/Jesus...), but due to usage and the linguistic developments in Denmark (and much related to the usage of the term by a Danish politican named Mogens Glistrup) it has attained - deservedly or not - a negative connotation. In effect, it is probably somewhat comparable to the term "nigger" in English, though in my view "muhammedaner" has no direct racist connotations. It's indeed a derogatory term, but only related to the religion and not the skin-colour of the group referred to.

I'm tending to come down on the side of Whiskey_199

Seeing as how Muslims call us non-Muslims "kaffirs" which literally translates to "unclean" I have no problem calling Muslims "Mohammedans." Particularly since they object to it.Those who are truly offended of course have the traditional option of leaving for Muslim lands. Where no Christians or non-Muslims of any kind exist to trouble their egos in any way.

There's more at the link.Check it out.(From now on, I'm thinking of using Mohammedan and Mohammedaneer. What say you?)

A Danish cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates earlier this month has run out of food and fresh water at sea, a Kenyan maritime official said on Monday.

The MV Danica White and its five Danish crew members were carrying building materials from Dubai to Kenya when it was seized off Somalia in the world's most dangerous waterway.

"The news we are getting is that food has run out in that ship and there is no water," said Andrew Mwangura, director of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme. The vessel's generator had apparently broken down, Mwangura told Reuters, so its water purification equipment also failed.

The Iranian president today extended a surprise olive branch to his domestic critics by agreeing to meet experts who warned his economic policies risked plunging the country into financial chaos.

In a marked departure from his usual abrasive approach, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wants "dialogue" with 57 economists who criticised him in an open letter, for policies that they claimed fuelled inflation, hurt the poor and laid the seeds of future crises.

Gee, I hope thosepolice guys that wear hoods and masksaren't at the meeting. You know the ones that made guys with long hair suck on the "restroom jerrycans" Iranians use to wash their bums. (Just goes to show you another reason we will win this war. Can you say, wet wipes?)

Methinks, the littlest theocrat is in over his wee head. I smell panic.Iran's financial system suffered a fresh jolt yesterday with panic selling on the stock market after the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, abruptly ordered banks to cut interest rates sharply, despite surging inflation.

Burn baby, burn. Hat's off to Dirty Kuffar for posting at Youtube.(Happy belated Saint Hans' Eve. I swilled champagne and did the frug around FOB Kitchen Table as I watched Mohammed go up in flames.Light my fire is the soundtrack.)

Let the seething begin!Update: Dymphna over at Gates of Viennahas the translation of the Danish text at the beginning of the vid.Saint Hans’ Eve has always celebrated the tradition of burning away the evil, in earlier times symbolized by the witch, who was supposedly directly connected to Satan. And if the witch was not burned then the harvest could not be safely brought into the house.Now a new evil has arrived in Europe, an evil that lies and kills in the name of their so-called God. An evil that springs from the so-called Prophet Mohammed. Therefore, in our time, it is he who symbolizes evil and it is not just one harvest that will disappear, but all of Western Europe’s future that will vanish if this evil is not dispatched to Hekkenfeldt [i.e. Hell, literally the Hekla volcano in Iceland — BB].(ed. note: a possible explanation for my volcano fixation?)Therefore will we burn the so-called Prophet Mohammed, on June 23, 2007, in three nameless places.We burned Mohammed in three different places across the country. We now release the video from the first burning.The next videos will be released on July 23 and August 23.For a Mohammed-free Denmark!!!

Iran, which imports more than 40 percent of the gasoline it uses, will run out of funds to import the commodity in early August, forcing the country to either increase its budget for imports or start rationing.

More than $1.5 billion of the $2.5 billion budgeted for gasoline imports this year has already been spent, Hojatollah Ghanimifard, National Iranian Oil Co.'s executive director for international affairs, said today to Shana, the Iranian oil- ministry's press agency. The rest will be spent over the next 1 1/2 months, he predicted. In 2006, Iran's parliament had to approve an emergency budget extension of $2.5 billion to bridge the gap. The Islamic republic has tried for more than a year to implement a gasoline-rationing program to curb consumption. Demand is buoyed by subsidies and supply is restricted by waste and scant refining capacity. Service stations in Iran offer the fuel at 1,000 Iranian rials a liter, or about 42 U.S. cents a gallon.

Earlier this month, Iran pushed back a rationing plan until late July to give the government more time to agree on a quota for drivers. An initial plan to limit consumption to as little as three liters a day per car was dropped last September because of fears of popular discontent.

Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh will attend a Majlis session today to respond to a number of questions on poor gas distribution to rural districts. Lawmakers are critical about the ministry’s performance in supplying gas to remote and deprived villages, Mehr reported on Monday.

Hmm. What will August bring? Will it suddenly get awfully hot in the Straits of Hormuz?

Japan’s banks are stepping up financial pressure on Iran - restricting loans and rejecting an Iranian request to pay for oil imports in currencies other than dollars, Britain’s Financial Times quoted banking and official sources as saying.Three Japanese banks - Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho, and Sumitomo Mitsui – had informed the Iranian authorities in April that they would not conduct new business in Iran, the FT quoted a senior banker as saying.

Batten down the hatches! Look for the Muslim street to erupt! According to just about everybody (LGF, JAWA, Gates of Vienna et al.) a group of Danes burned Mohammed in effigy at their midsummer's festival - traditionally a witch would be used.Gates of Vienna is now confirming that a vid has been made. Stay tuned! Until then I thought you might like to peruse some images of Mohammed at theMohammed Image Archive.. Learn about another festival in Spain that burns mohammed in effigy - or used to before they became so totally dhimmi:

Certain towns in southern Spain hold an annual festival called "Moros y Cristianos" ("Moors and Christians"), which celebrates the Reconquista -- the recapture of the Iberian Peninsula by Christian Spaniards from the Muslim colonizers who had invaded centuries earlier. In some locales, at the climax of the festival, townspeople burn Mohammed in effigy. The Mohammed figure, called La Mahoma, is usually bigger than life-size and in full costume. The picture here showsLa Mahoma from the 1920 Moros y Cristianos festival in the town of Biar, near Alicante.But according tothis site, some of the villages are planning to tone down their celebrations this year by not having La Mahoma at all. And artists in the city of Valenciaare now afraid to make sculptures that mock Mohammedin their annual satirical Fallas festival.

Drilling for Justice: Michael Yon's latest from Baquba and Operation Arrowhead Ripper, an operation that might have gotten ripped because of remarks made by senior military officials. Unfortunately, it sounds like they were ours. The 24 hr media and satellite dishes and all. There's a question of how many of the AQI leadership escaped because of it...there are also incredible stories like these:

Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) had tarnished its name here by publicly attacking and murdering children, videotaping beheadings, all while imposing harsh punishments on Iraqi civilians found guilty of violating morality laws prohibiting activities like smoking. The AQI installed Sharia court had sanctioned the amputation of the two“smoking fingers” for those who violated anti-smoking laws. In part because local sentiment was shifting against it, AQI synthesized with other groups and undertook an image makeover, christening itself “The Islamic State of Iraq.” But the new name was just lipstick on a pig here.

On the evening of the 24th I spoke with a local Iraqi official, Colonel Faik, who said the Muftis would order the severance of the two fingers used to hold a cigarette for any Iraqis caught smoking. Other reports, from here in Diyala and also in Anbar, allege that smokers are murdered by AQI. Most Iraqis smoke and this particularprohibition appeared to have earned the ire of many locals. After an American unit cleared an apartment complex on the 23rd, LTC Smiley, the battalion commander, reported that residents didn’t ask for food and water, but cigarettes. In other parts of Baqubah, people have been celebrating the routing of AQI by lighting up andsmoking cigarettes.

Other AQI edicts included beatings for men who refused to grow beards, and corporal punishments for obscene sexual suggestiveness, defined by such “loose” behavior as carrying tomatoes and cucumbers in the same bag. These fatwas were not eagerly embraced by most Iraqis, and the taint traveled back to the Muftis who sat in supreme judgment. Locals, who are increasingly helpful in pointing out and celebrating the downfall of AQI here, said that during the initial Arrowhead Ripper attack the morning of the 19th, AQI murdered five men. Townsend’s men found the buried corpses behind an AQI prison, exactly where they’d been told to look for the group grave. Locals also directed Townsend’s men to a torture house. Peering through a window, American soldiers saw knives, swords, bindings and drills. AQI is well-known for its macabre eagerness to drill into kneecaps, elbows, ribs, skulls, and other parts of victims.

If I were a Muslim who had just watched "A Mighty Heart" in a theater in Dearborn, Mich., Karachi, or Cairo, the only impressions that I would probably be left with is that the man got what he deserved and that Karachi is really one hell of a messy place. Beyond that, I would not have a clue that my Muslim compatriots had anything to do with it.

The full scale of England's bogus marriage scandal has been revealed, a special investigation shows. One in every four couples tying the knot at register offices in the capital may have been a sham to get around immigration rules.

In the London borough of Newham, the number of register office marriages plummeted by 72 per cent when laws to stop bogus unions were introduced two years ago.

Across the capital, register office unions fell by more than a third, according to an investigation by the Evening Standard.

The number of marriages, including those at churches, plunged by at least 10,000.

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said: "These figures are astonishing and reveal for the first time how Britain's immigration rules have been breached on an industrial scale."It is deeply worrying that the number of marriages which may be bogus now appears to be on the rise again in some boroughs."

Newham had the highest proportion of non-white population in the country at the 2001 Census. Also, the borough contains the second highest percentage of muslims in Britain (24.3%). According to a study carried out in 2006 for a Channel 4 television programme, it is the "4th worst" place to live in the UK; the study took into account crime rates, school results, pollution, economic activity and property prices. In the same study, neighbouring Tower Hamlets and Hackney came in at 2nd and 1st place respectively.

Iran is encouraging people who receive “immoral” messages on their mobile phones to report them to the judiciary and receive a reward, a press report said on Sunday. “There are rewards for those who report senders of immoral MMSs to the judiciary,” the head of Iran’s telecommunications company, Vafa Ghaffarian was quoted as saying by the Etemad daily. Iran has said it would seek to block and censor immoral multimedia messages which have recently become available in Iran, where text-messaging is already massively popular. Iran applies tough censorship on cultural products and internet access, banning thousands of websites and blogs containing sexual and politically critical material as well as women’s rights and social networking sites. Mobile phone owners can put in an official complaint against the senders of offensive messages who will be fined and lose their subscription. During a recent crackdown on vice and unIslamic dressers, there were reports of police checking mobile phones in some parts of the capital in search of illicit content. Iranian officials have acknowledged there is a problem with the clandestine videoing of women in swimming pools, changing rooms and other private situations in a country where there is strict segregation of sexes.

Saudi authorities have ordered banks to separate female and male workers at their headquarters in a new setback for women's rights in the conservative kingdom. Banks are one of the main employers of women in Saudi Arabia. Though women are already separated from male employees in branches, they have up to now worked together in bank headquarters. Under the new system, women employees in bank headquarters could now be obliged to work on separate floors and use different lifts, entrances and canteens from men.

Meanwhilea law has been passed in Kuwaitthat restricts women from working between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am and bars them from 'arduous and dangerous' jobs. Oh, and jobs where they provide services to men only.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

The construction of one of Europe's biggest mosques near to a globally famous Christian landmark has sparked a furious row in Germany.

Immigration and integration are hugely sensitive questions in Germany, which is home to a Turkish community of several million. But almost within the shadow of Cologne Cathedral, political correctness has now been replaced by bitter confrontation as the city's Muslims begin to build a 2,000-capacity mosque with twin minarets that will reach 170ft.

"Muslims have been here for 40 years, yet people are praying in back rooms," said Seyda Can, an Islamic theologian at the Turkish Islamic Union in Cologne. "There are 120,000 Muslims in Cologne, that's 12 per cent of the population. We should not hide."

Work will begin in the autumn on the £15 million mosque, which will include huge glass and stone cupolas and two six-storey minarets.

And in a case of the lion laying down with the lamb:

"It's not a popular plan," said Joerg Uckermann, the district's deputy mayor. "We don't want to build a Turkish ghetto in Ehrenfeld. I know about Londonistan and I don't want that here."

Mr Uckermann is part of a curious coalition of protest that has united Jewish intellectuals and neo-Nazis. Leading the charge is Ralph Giordano, a prominent Jewish author, who wrote recently that Germany was witnessing a "clash of two completely different cultures" and questioned whether they could ever be reconciled.

Stating that he had received death threats for his opinions, he added: "What kind of a state are we in that I can face a fatwa in Germany?"

The scales fall from the eyes of another liberal...Daniel Pearl's friend tells her side of the story inA mighty shame.

Lost in the PR machine and the heroism hoopla is Danny, whose death is at the center of the story. After all, as one person involved in the production candidly told me: Danny can't do interviews. So in the Associated Press review, he amounts to nothing more than a parenthetical phrase.